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Quirky Series

The Quirky Tale of April Hale

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Self-proclaimed 'weirdo' April Hale and the notorious 'bad boy' Ryder Black have been living side by side for more than 10 years. Both never attempted to communicate with each other, but on the night Ryder Black is thrown out by his own father, he asks her a question that might change both of their lives: "March, will you let me stay in your room?"

He even got her name wrong.

A coming of age story about loss, the wonders of falling in love, and ultimately, pretending to be normal. Get inside April's distorted and yet humorous perspective, and watch as her tale unfolds into a shocking finish.

103 pages, ebook

First published January 7, 2013

141 people are currently reading
3208 people want to read

About the author

Cathy Octo

6 books193 followers
Hi! I'm Cat, I'm older than you might think I am, an artist, a designer, and I happen to love to write. In real life, I love fashion and hanging out with friends and I'm generally very bubbly and happy.

https://www.facebook.com/Cathy-Octo-1...

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5 stars
1,565 (43%)
4 stars
1,153 (31%)
3 stars
644 (17%)
2 stars
211 (5%)
1 star
66 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 261 reviews
Profile Image for isabelle.
164 reviews174 followers
October 10, 2014
This was so freaking, ADORABLE.

This is another one of those 'boy next door' stories. But this one is completely different.

April Hale has got to be the quirkiest oddball I have ever read about. She would rather watch her Star Wars or Big Bang Theory DVDs than go and make friends. I want to be her friend. But here's the thing: she has a disorder. It's called Asperger's. It makes it harder for her to notice people's emotions. She doesn't know what love feels like. She's not used to compliments. She's different.

April's neighbors, the Blacks, is a family falling apart. They argue loudly every, single morning, they're basically April's alarm clock. The cause: Ryder Black. Bad boy. Troublemaker. The freak of the the school. You should stay out of Ryder's way. Seriously. And he isn't one of those very cliché womanizers. Just a very snarky street fighter. Well, one day, Ryder's parents kick him out of the house. Then he asks April a question that could change both of their lives:

"March, will you let me stay in your room?"


Ryder didn't even get her name right. They form a sorta-friendship from there and it blossoms it to something great more into the book.

And can I just add how awesome April's parents are? I just love them!

Both of my parents looked at each other and then nodded slowly. "Good answer," my father said. "And do you..."
There was a pause that went on longer than would have been normal.
"Dang it, Meredith [April's Mom], I'm not good at being an Intimidating Father Towards His Daughter's Boyfriend."


See what I mean?

This is a hilarious coming of age story about the surprises of falling in love. It was sweet and had some unpredictable scenes and I JUST LOVED IT ALL.

Find this fantastic story here.
Profile Image for Mya.
1,502 reviews59 followers
December 30, 2017
This author is what I have been missing. This book will give you life.
Profile Image for Anusha Narasimhan.
275 reviews290 followers
December 16, 2017
This book was absolutely sweet and hilarious. I loved how unique and different the female lead was. April Hale was so adorably quirky. This book was unexpectedly good and I enjoyed reading it. Would recommend if you are looking for a light funny read.
Profile Image for Rahmi.
246 reviews27 followers
July 13, 2016
SUKAAAA. THIS IS ONE OF THE FUNNIEST BOOK I’VE READ. I LOVE APRIL AND HER QUIRKINESS SO MUCH. SHE’S SO ADORKABLE I JUST WANT TO HUG HER.

description

Ini adalah kali kedua aku baca dari wattpad dan aku cukup kaget karena bener-bener suka ceritanya dan ga mengecewakan. April dan kelakuan anehnya berhasil bikin aku ngakak parah, seperti tiap dia bicara dengan gaya Yoda, ngomong ke Teddy Bear #21 atau pas dia dan Andrew kesasar di perjalanan dari sekolah ke rumahnya.

Di awal cerita aku kira keanehan April memang karena sifatnya yang unik tap ternyata dia mengidap Asperger makanya sikapnya kayak gitu. Aside from her Asperger’s or not I still think her quirkiness is very cool. Meskipun aku ga ngidap Asperger tapi aku bisa ngerti perasaan April ketika Ryder atau Quentin bilang dia ga bisa empati atau ga terlalu negrti ekspresi/perasaan orang di sekitarnya. Sama seperti April, kadang aku sendiri kurang peka terhadap perasaan orang lainm sometimes people called me a little bit cold or insensitive. Ha! Padahal kerjaanku baca buku romance hahaha xD
Profile Image for Jessie.
263 reviews38 followers
June 22, 2019
This story is super sweet. I freaking love it! I love all the characters. And it's only a short story!🥺☺️
Profile Image for Kate.
90 reviews
May 28, 2016
Not impressed. If April was an Aspie, the author didnt do her research. If felt cruel and mocking and not relatable at all. April liked guys, wasn't intelligent, was prone to fainting, etc. If anything, she was guy obsessed and thats it. Of course all aspies are different, but I have never heard that we are prone to fainting.

Same with not knowing her way home. If anything, the routine of going the same way to and from school easy day (because we all love routines, right?) would ensure she could get home safely. I know the way to my house from school, what teenager doesnt?

Aspies out there, let me set a rule: Dont invite guys into your room or bed. This does not result in a happy ending. Be safe.
Profile Image for Freya.
250 reviews
December 12, 2014
Friendly Advice: If you don't want to know anything about this story, you may not read my review.
But if you want to know more about the concept and the whole idea of the book, go ahead. (:


Wow. Surprisingly it was really well written(I don't see it that often) and I really loved how it was just different from so many books but was also reminding me of many other stories I know. I mean think of the idea: two neighbors living side by side for 10 years, only seperated by walls and 10 meters, each one 'stalking' the other but they're unaware that the one is doing the same thing as the other.

Back to the referring to other stories.
Did she read Shades of Grey? April often bit her lower lipas a nercous habit! And she didn't want to get touched by another human being other than her family(okay she's the SHE and not the HE -alas Fifty Shades- in the book and it's because of her condition, but yeah).
Oh gosh what were the other books or movies I thought about while reading? … Oh yeah another one is The Boy Next Door. A boy amd a girl the same age living next door and one stalking the other but at least one of them doesn't know the other one is kind of doing the same.
I even thought of TFiOS because of !!

Well I liked the way the author always did that little notes at the end of every chapter on wattpad and I loved how she was so well informed about the whole .
I also liked all the little comments about movies or TV shows or even science(I'm really NOT into science and didn't understand at least half of it). This gave the story even more personality.
And my respect to you, you lady, to not even be into Star Wars (and many other movies and so on you spoke about) but knowing so much about them!

The ending is a little sad, to be honest, but it rounds it up perfectly and smooth and now I can't wait to go into the sequel, even if it's not even close to being finished yet. (:


ps: Wow I think this is my longest reciew on GR by now!!
ps2: I will also upload this review on my blog( www.soundofavoice.wordpress.com ) soon.

Update: My review is now on my blog!
1 review
September 27, 2013

The Quirky Tale of April Hale is book about a socially awkward teen with dozens of disorders including asperger syndrome which causes her to be completely oblivious to other people's emotions and even her own.

I really liked how the author expressed the feelings and thoughts of the main character, I have never read a book with the exposition set up the way it was in this book.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a cliche topic to be flipped on its head and made into something unique and different.



The Quirky Tale of April Hale
By:Demonicblackcat
Profile Image for Raian (ThatQuirkyBookworm).
22 reviews3 followers
December 18, 2020
5 Quirky stars!

It was the first book I’ve ever read from Wattpad. The storyline was absolutely sweet and humorous at the same time. I loved how unique the main characters were. April was undoubtedly cute and quirky. Ryder was so adorable and endearing in his own way. This story was unexpectedly good and I really enjoyed reading it. I would recommend this one to anyone looking for a cliché topic to be flipped on its head and made into something more special and different.
Profile Image for Kristen.
2,030 reviews39 followers
May 26, 2016
Let me just start by saying that this started as a story on Wattpad before being discovered and picked up by a small publishing company...so I didn't really know what to expect.

SO FREAKING AMAZING. The fact that this romantic comedy has an autistic teenager as its heroine is amazing enough--but when you throw in how hilarious and touching it is, I couldn't get enough. There were SO MANY lines I had to go back and read again just because they were so good. April's condition makes interacting with others and understanding subtext difficult, but she is so much more than that. One of the best female teen narrators I've read in awhile.

Fair warning--there are quite a few grammatical errors in this one...maybe because of the small-scale publishing thing? Or maybe English isn't the author's first language (her bios say she lives in Indonesia)? There were some subject/verb disagreements and some odd prepositional choices...but if an anal-retentive English teacher like me caught them all and still gave the book 5 stars, I don't think they'll bother too many other people.
Profile Image for Brittany.
725 reviews26 followers
May 27, 2016
So many people don't know about this book, and that is a travesty.

At the heart of it, this book is a love story, but it's really about the many languages people speak without knowing it, and how we share our feelings. This book shows how even with huge barriers, there are certain things in life that are universal like love affection and forgiveness and grief.

April is a character that I will never forget and long as I live. She lives in a world that makes zero sense to her, and you keep rooting for every victory that comes her way.

I have read a lot of characters who are on the spectrum, my favorite being Caitlin in Mockingbird by Erskine, until now. April is the epitome of thoughtfulness and curiosity while blatantly navigating her condition while demanding a normal life that includes love.

You'd have to be dead inside to not be moved by this book, it made my heart melt and it had me laughing and snorting on every page.

Published by a tiny press, there are some editing errors, but I don't care. I think it's perfection.
Profile Image for Raj.
1,514 reviews8 followers
April 22, 2014
3 stars

This novel went up to my top 5 funniest novel list!

It's SERIOUSLY hilarious? she's pretty shallow, but can't blame her, she's sick, so it's kind of worrisome how the novel is gonna end. (just found out that there's book 2 but it's not done yet, so I'll wait) I like how protective Quintin is towards her. Oh! when she got lost with that guy for 5 hours on the way home from school?! Fun-fuckin-tastic!!! I can relate though, I have no sense of direction too and I hate it, that happened to me once, and I just asked my mother to fetch me coz I didn't know which way to go, left or was it right? It usually takes a lot of time for me to remember places.

It's too short for me and the ending isn't satisfying enough. Though there's a sequel! but it's not done yet. :(
Profile Image for Aya.
6 reviews
December 17, 2021
Absolutely hated how Linda's character was portrayed in a positive light when she groomed and raped Ryder (the main character). This disgusting pedophile was in her late twenties when she met Ryder who was only 14 at the time and 1-2 years later not only did they develop a romantic relationship but also a sexual relationship. The fact that she was still treated as this likable character who we're meant to sympathize with just because she has cancer and is dying from it, is absolutely disgusting and makes my blood boil. And the amount of people who justify her actions just because it's not in her "personality" are just as disgusting and should not be let near children.
1 review3 followers
October 13, 2015
I absolutely LOVED the book. I found it on Wattpad, and it's by far the best story I've read so far. And that's saying A LOT! The book is VERY enjoyable, fun, humorous, and just flat out amazing. The characters are very well developed, and are all unique and special in their own way. Be prepared to laugh out loud, cry, scream, squeal, blush, and everything in between. Great story written by an amazing writer. CONGRADULATIONS on being published!
Profile Image for Kenza.
39 reviews
March 16, 2015
I'm in love with this book!

I didn't expect this book to be such original. The plot is absolutely amazing.
I loved all the characters, April is such an inspiring girl, she's unique!
Ryder is so freaking hot and so adorable in his own way.

I really thought that this book will be such a cliché but not at all!!
So happy that i've read this book! Cute, funny, weird, quirky...
Profile Image for Andrea.
24 reviews2 followers
December 21, 2015
Whenever I look for a book, I try to look for a main character that I would find likable since it is very difficult to like a book in which you don't like the character that the story is about. In The Quirky Tale of April Hale, I found April more likable than most female main characters of other books I've read. She is oblivious to the bad things of the world, and her personality is very similar to a child, which is very difficult to find in a character. She was absolutely ADORABLE. She also has this mental illness called Aspergers (a type of autism) which makes it difficult for her to understand people's emotions. This books basically tells us what the life of an autistic person is like, and it really got me interested and looking through Wikipedia researching all types of autisms and their symptoms and all that stuff. I felt like I was learning new information while reading the book, and that is something I really like about books like these because I can learn a lot more than what they teach me at school.
Profile Image for Sarah.
47 reviews
October 5, 2015
Huge editing errors, very poor writing. That being said I could see the potential kin this plot. The author just was not quite experienced enough to make it work and bring out that full potential. Because this is an unexperienced author with a good idea, I gave it 2 stars. With a little more practice and help (especially with editing) this author could do really well though, so I encourage the author to keep writing and learning. As for other readers, if you have only read a few books and can get over bad editing, you may enjoy this book. If you are like me and have read many books so your standards are high, you may want to take a pass.
S.S.
Profile Image for Taylor.
110 reviews12 followers
February 23, 2016
Probably 2.5.

Was funny and cute but I had a hard time reading it with out wanting to roll my eyes. Overall a enjoyable light read.
Profile Image for -`ˏ em! ˎ´˗.
10 reviews208 followers
March 15, 2017
actually reread this in January, but forgot to add it on goodreads (I didn't even have goodreads in January lmao) so I forgot that I read this this year. overall this book was ehh
Profile Image for Lauren.
121 reviews8 followers
December 25, 2023
Errr…. Um… it ate but in a questionable way
Profile Image for Lina | Adlina H.
413 reviews20 followers
March 18, 2017
Awww this book...

Aku biasanya tidak membaca buku dari wattpad. Kalaupun aku membaca buku disana, biasanya karena aku memang penggemar berat penulisnya (mis: Colleen Hoover), yang lain? Enggak. Mmmm... belum ada yang selesai sih. Biasanya kalau bacapun itu karena untuk feedback story, jadi ya bukan sebagai penikmat jatuhnya.

Anyway, i didnt get this book directly from wattpad list.
Aku dapetnya dari goodreads, satu-satunya referensi terbaik sampai saat ini. Entah karena apa dan bagaimana suatu hari aku mendapati kalau sinopsisnya menarik dan rating buku ini juga cukup bagus, dan jatuhlah buku ini ke daftar TBRku. Kemarin aku lagi butuh banget bacaan dan finally, i chose this book!

Dan buku ini, aku sama sekali nggak ngeh kalau buku ini dari wattpad. Beruntungnya cerita ini masih diposting di wattpad, so... lucky me!
Detik pertama aku baca cerita ini, satu chapter, and i couldn't stop.

Ceritanya baguuuussss. Pertama, aku sangat menyukai karakter April. Bagaimana ia bermonolog ria setiap detiknya, bagaimana cara berfikirnya, dan itu lucu! Walaupun ada beberapa tingkah yang pingin digetok karena keterlaluan reaksinya, tapi most of the time, she stole my attention. Nggak bosen deh liat pro kontra yang dihadapi dia di dalam dirinya, belum lagi ketika aku masih nggak tau dia itu kenapa, astaga, so innocent! Ni anak bener-bener nggak tau apa-apa.

And the second one is Ryder!
Ada Quantin, kakak dari April yang juga menarik, tapi yang paling menarik dari semua cowok di dalam cerita ini jeas adalah lead male-nya yaitu Ryder. Si Ryder ini yaa awalnya kelihatan serem, tapi waktu udah mulai berinteraksi sama April jadi cute banget mereka berdua. Si Ryder coba flirting kan sama April, but fail. Dan sedih juga sih waktu dia udah kasih kode yang jelas kalo dia suka sama April dan si cewek ini sama sekali nggak tau apa2. Syukurlah kemudian keduanya akhirnya menyelesaikan kesalahpahaman itu dengan cute juga. Ah, si Ryder ini, nggak nyangka dia wajahnya juga bisa memerah. fufu.

Aku nggak tau kalau ternyata buku ini sempat ganti judul ya. Tapi secara garis besar memang jauh lebih cocok yang ini sih, lebih menggambarkan keseluruhan isi bukunya, kalau yang pertama fokus cerita jadi seolah di dalam ruangannya April terus.

Cerita ini lucu, banyak banget lucunya. Apalagi kepolosan2 si April yang bikin Ryder gemes, dan Ryder ini adalah bad boy yang suka berkelahi walaupun nilainya bagus. Sayang cuma sekali liat Ryder mabuk, itu dia lucuuuu banget, bikin pingin di puk-puk. Kemudian cerita ini juga semakin meruncing dark ke belakang, dan ada beberapa momen ketika Ryder nggak kuat sama April yang sisi empatinya hampir nol sedangkan Ryder ini tipe cowok yang penuh perasaan. Jadi taulah, bertolak belakang banget, dan sempat itu bikin Ryder jengah dan lelah sama si April. Meskipun akhirnya April berhasil meluluhkan hatinya Ryder lagi sih.

Finally, i give this book full stars. Buku ini berhasil menyampaikan banyak emosi karena perbedaan kedua tokoh utama kita yang bisa menimbulkan banyak lika=liku dan terjal perjalanan cinta mereka Tapi buku ini cukup pendek sih ya, bikin kangen terus sama mereka berdua. Trus si Ryder nih ya, semakin kesini semakin sweet sama April. Aku malah nggak nyangka kalau karakter bad boy kayak dia bakalan kelihatan kasmarannya kayak anak remaja baru jatuh cinta. Padahal kan dia jauh lebih berpengalaman dari April. Jadi lucu aja sih dan itu bikin si Ryder ini manis banget di mataku.

Oya di beberapa chapter kemudian sempat dibilang kalau penulisnya dari Indonesia. Waw. Tulisannya rapih banget sih sampai aku nggak sadar serasa baca tulisan asli penulis novel2 internasional lainnya. Nggak tau sih, kali aja dia numpang lahir di Indonesia ya nggak? Habisnya dia kayaknya nggak ada niatan entah ngomong pake bahasa indonesia, menerjemahkan ceritanya ke bahasa indonesia, atau bikin cerita bahasa Indonesia. Tapi nggak jadi masalah sih... emm... aku kagum banget aja. Pembawaan dia dalam bercerita ini unik walaupun premisnya klise. Serasa spesial baca tulisannya.

Buku ini Alhamdulillah dilanjutkan di sequelnya. Humornya lumayan berkurang sih, tiap chapternya juga lumayan pendek-pendek, lebih dark juga. Tapiii... di season 2 nya ini banyak momen bikin aku menitikkan air mata karena sedih. Mereka mengalami turning point lagi di hidupnya, dan Ryder entah kenapa dapet bagian misfortune gitu deh. Dan dia jadi rendah diri, jadi kelihatan kelemahannya tiap dia bilang kalau dia nggak bisa kasih apa2 buat April. Disaat anak2 seusiany sibuk kuliah eh dia malah banting tulang. Sekarang reputasi Ryder juga nggak bikin orang tergila2 sama dia. Pokoknya sedih banget deh dia kalo udah gitu. Aku harap April tetap selalu disisinya, mendukung, dan mencintai Ryder. Karena di season kedua, beneran deh, Ryder ini jadi kelihatan banget betapa dia mencintai pacarnya...

I love the story dan ceritanya masih on going untuk sekuel. Aku nggak tau kenapa aku mau bersabar menunggu updatetannyaa! Errrgh
Profile Image for Aalixxhhh.
2 reviews3 followers
August 17, 2020
This book on the outside may seem like your typical cliché teenfic, but let me scream that it is NOT.

There's only one word to describe this novel. Sensational. Okay I lied there are many words such as adorable, fresh, HiLaRiOuS, heartwarming, emotional etc. You get my drift. It's very insightful about the condition 'Aspergers' and ensures that the reader loves April, and Ryder to absolute bits.

In a nutshell, this novel was a page-turner and a half, and I'd give anything to get my hands on a published version (which either isn't a thing, or discontinued) 0
Profile Image for N H.
88 reviews1 follower
September 1, 2017
Read this on watt pad. it's more of 4 stars to 4.25.

This book is fantastic! liked this one a lot! The protagonist was really unique and different from other characters I've read about, and Ryder's personality is as good.

I really did enjoy this book, even though not really that much contemporary books capture my attention.

overall, this was an amazing read, and really Octo does have a unique style in her books! I highly recommend this one!
Profile Image for kayla.
192 reviews12 followers
July 26, 2020
When did all these Wattpad books get added to here, what in the world 🤯🤯
Profile Image for Melina A.
101 reviews1 follower
July 25, 2022
Could not finish she has asbergers
Profile Image for JadeShea.
3,235 reviews60 followers
December 7, 2018
Found on Wattpad.


The story begins with April Hale being the social inept nerd at her school. She only has two friends, who she isn't really even that close to. And her twin brother is the complete opposite of her. He's the popular jock guy at school. Things change for April when the bad boy who lives next door gets kicked out of his house, and she lets him stay in her room. These two actually start to form a friendship, and develop feelings for her. But April has a condition that makes it very hard for her to understand the social norms, and people's feelings. You add this and the bad boy who is having family problems into the mix and you have a whole lot of drama.

This story was something I found on wattpad. It wasn't at all like I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be your typical "nerd falls for bad boy" type of thing. But I was very wrong. It is the nerd falling for the bad boy, but April isn't just a nerd. She as a form of autism that makes it hard for her to communicate with people, and understand their feelings. And the bad boy next door to her slowly starts to fall for her. Now I have to say there are only two things I didn't like about this story. One of them is towards the end I sort of felt like Ryder was giving up on April in a way. It was kind of frustrating. And then to see April try so hard to be the person he needs was beautiful. And I really wish we had gotten more out of the epilogue.. Like maybe what happens to them a few years later.

Anyways, the other thing I didn't like was the story needed to be edited. Now I normally can deal with this type of thing by just fixing it in my head and moving on quickly. But in this one I had to read several sentences over and over to understand what was going on. Other than that this book was very well written, with a very unique plot line.
369 reviews9 followers
June 24, 2017
Rating: 4/5

I love some cliche good girl/bad boy books, so that's why I started reading this. But guess what?
It's totally NOT one of those cliche stories!

At first, the author makes you think that it is - the good girl who has never done anything bad in her life and gets good grades meets the bad boy, the slightly criminal bad boy etc.
But as you read on, you realise something.. Special to April (read and find out what it is (; )

I immediately guessed what it was, but it definitely didn't take out adventure you're going through.
This book was so special, and honestly?
Throughout this book, I've laughed so hard, bawled my eyes out, and made baby dinosaur sounds of all the feels.

Definitely a recommender!
Profile Image for Kimmy ୨୧.
127 reviews28 followers
April 5, 2023
i read this book for the first time on wattpad years ago (back in high school!) and decided to re-read it again to see if i still liked it as much as i did back then.

i’m not gonna write a full-on review for this book like i usually do with my other reads, but rereading it gave me flashbacks to the teenage bad boy/good girl romances i used to love.

keeping my rating as 3 stars since there are a number of flaws i can quickly point out with this book. but it also holds a special place in my heart because it’s one of the first wattpad stories that i read and genuinely adored as a teenage girl.
Profile Image for Anita.
70 reviews
January 1, 2016
Unique Narrative Perspective.

I picked this book for it's quirky title and the possibility of a quick read. I got much more. Experiencing the story from an Asperger diagnosed teen was an eye opener. Though I have known a few people with this moderate level of diagnosis, I have a new appreciation for the communication and socialization hurdles. This is more than a YA tale, rather a story with struggles from a perspective not often explored in this everyday type of narrative context.
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